Indian equity benchmarks tracking positive global cues after hitting fresh highs in early trade held on to their gains in the mid-afternoon session. At around, 1:27 pm, the 30-share BSE Sensex traded higher by 0.26 per cent or 197.3 points at 77,190.07, while the Nifty traded 0.28 per cent or 65.45 points higher at 23,531.05.

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Mid and smallcap indices extended gains too for the ninth consecutive session and marked their life high today on the back of sharp gains in shipping, railways, defense and ceramic stocks. Meanwhile, the market is also cheering the upward revision in India’s GDP forecast for FY25 by Fitch to 7.2 per cent as against 7 per cent. 

Within the Nifty 50 pack, Wipro, Power Grid Corporation, Shriram Finance, Titan and M&M were the top gainers, while laggards were Maruti Suzuki, Dr. Reddy’s Labs, UltraTech Cement, Divi’s Labs and Tata Steel.

Sectorally, pharma, FMCG, metal and oil & gas stocks traded in the red with a drag of up to 0.72 per cent, while buying action was seen across all other sectors, with consumer durable and realty leading the gains.

In the views of  Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities, the bull market appears unstoppable. Key catalysts include lower inflation at 4.75%, a robust growth outlook with a 6.7% GDP growth forecast by the World Bank, and net FII buying of Rs 2,031 crores. 

"The undercurrent of the market continues to be bullish. Sustained huge domestic flows is the principal driver of this rally. It is also important to understand that there is fundamental support to the rally from the strong economic growth and good corporate earnings,” noted Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Global support from the mother market US, which is setting new records, also is a positive factor, he added.

DOMS Industries’ shares hit fresh all-time high by surging nearly 11 per cent. Domestic brokerage JM Financial has retained its buy on the counter post its recent plant visit,

Shares of the defense firm Paras Defence were locked in 20 per cent upper circuit at Rs 1,388.7 amid block deal in the counter during the pre-opening block deal window.

Shares of the NBFC entity IIFL Finance traded higher by over 6 per cent at Rs 496.05 as the company clarified that it has fixed all the gaps pertaining to its gold loan portfolio as specified by the RBI.

Meanwhile, European markets traded higher, with German DAX and French CAC indices trading with gains up to 0.5 per cent as several central bank policy meetings are scheduled this week, including the Bank of England.